Post Mortem Review -- The Negative and Positive

Setting the stage:

Location/exact job description will remain nameless, my position was of one of the team members. We did have a main campus and a second location that influenced some of the issues being described below.

Scope of the project was to provide a snapshot in time of their current training for a specific group of employees--all falling under the same job series.  We were given access to the current career path structure, their learning management system (LMS) and told to go forth and prosper. As we began sifting through the material, we realized there was much more we needed and started the ball rolling to obtain the material. Eventually we produced the desired product.

Review of the project using Greer (2010) Project Post Mortem review questions

From www.pdu4pm.com/

• Let’s start with frustration or warning signs--communication or lack of direction between leadership and team members impacted information gathered, documentation of collected information, and the final report, all requiring unnecessary extra work.  Utilizing all available methods of communication would have minimized this issue. Weekly or bi-weekly meetings, whether in-person or on the chat/video software that connected each user on the closed server, program very similar to Skype or Google Hangout.

• Second negative issue was the personnel selected to join the team. There seemed to be a trend of veering away from hiring instructional designers that actually possessed experience with the Analysis portion of ADDIE. In hindsight, and if I was on the selection board, I would have asked for examples of their work illustrating their knowledge or provided an opportunity to illustrate during the interview.

• Ouch, here comes number three negative. Was there timely feedback, and the answer was no. Often dragged out, lacked clear direction, filtered through various interpretations; and how to fix it I believe is to communicate via written channels--document. Each team created their own operating procedures, and was not until late in the project was one central operating procedure developed and eventually followed.

• So let us move to the positive side of this project. Would worked well was the use of workshops that brought in subject matter experts (SMEs) under one roof, working together to develop a list of job task, subtask, and steps; as well as identifying knowledge, skill and abilities (KSAs). Out team worked so well to enable the SMEs to brilliantly develop a list of tasks that fit their career paths.

What did I bring

So what did I bring to the table to help the project eventually succeed, remember earlier, there were issues.  I took ownership of every piece of the project assigned to me.  I brought my background to help analyze the data. I gently encouraged my teammates to complete their portion of the project, stay focused, to communicate and not be a stove pipe of information. If I found a more efficient method of gathering data, that stayed within the established guidelines, I shared it.  If information was already gathered from a previous project I ensured other teams were not duplicating the effort, no need for redoing an activity. I led by example, even if others, but not all, would not follow

Project Manager Roles

Now that I have ranted about a project, lets look at how the roles in the project manager and how they could improve it if we started all over again.

Let me say we had two project managers, one on the client side and the other on the contract side--where I was. Both worked hard, but we still struggled to get it right after the third project. I would consider a pause button should have been pushed to keep control of the project to examine how things were done, select the best practices to collect and document the data (Portny et al., 2008). When an anomaly appeared in the next project, push that pause button again, agree upon the necessary changes and then press on.

As I indicated earlier, communication was a major player, influencing individual perceptions of management. The lack of communication caused individuals to do their own thing, this would stop had a operating procedure been established after the first project on the contract, and been communicated to the team as a team allowing all to share. Portny et al., (2008) pointed out the importance of open, two-way communication when there are separated office (on-site/off -site) locations.

As one who is about to enter a new position, it would be a shame to repeat what has happen.  It is up to me to take the lessons I learned from this set of projects and knowledge obtained from others, and do better.  

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References

Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Project Management in Education and Training

It is time to learn about Project Management (PM)....

Does proof-of-concept or scoop creep sound familiar? Those are just two phrases we will encounter...

Understanding project management in education and training I feel is vital for an instructional designer, because, at times the PM may not understand what ISDs do and can bring to a project...

Stay tuned...

Reflections on Distance Education

Let me begin by asking a question, what or who influences my perception of online / distance / e-learning?  Was, or is it, influenced by personal experience (positive or negative), negative experiences by my friends, personal choice to avoid online training/education, or just afraid of technology?  It is simple, my perception derived from my own experience with correspondence study--lessons, assignments, readings sent to me, and snail mailed the completed assignments back to the instructor for grading, evolving to online learning; and it worked (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012).  I felt comfortable in the online format as I enjoyed being on the computer; participating in social media sites and I use the computer as an advantage, versus a disadvantage.

As technology, web tools, and those feeding off of social media mature, I see the drive toward increase opportunities for online learning, especially within corporate training. Will a full online degree program work for all education, maybe not; instead, universities look to selected courses to develop (or flip) into online, requiring less classroom space, instructors located near the campus and flexibility for students. Gallup poll in October 2013 via telephone interviews hinted to towards the need for knowledge and skills to perform a specific job versus a degree (Saad, Busteed & Ogisi, 2013). Experience in government agencies instructing adult learning students, some of which have BlackBoard on the UNCLASSIFIED (the Internet for the non-government workers) or CLASSIFIED system. I would like to see more of student online interactivity on the UNCLASSIFIED system, but wonder how far organizations would venture out fear of security of information.

I can see an increase in effectiveness of e-Learning training with corporate companies as job listings for instructional designers point more towards online development, and with the up and coming millennial generation, arriving with extensive experience with social media, smart phones, and e-devices; they will adapt to online learning, as that is what they know (Dede, 2005).  Job descriptions I read I feel I currently qualify, focus on training online, to use the various tools available. However, I lack experience in the development of the WBT, unless the Advanced Instructional Design and Distance Learning courses count. 

We become advocates for something we hold dear to our heart, as an instructional designer; there are several avenues to travel to advocate e-learning/distance learning.   Follow and participate in e-learning blogs or communication boards. As a member of LinkedIn’s eLearning related discussion groups (Instructional Design & E-Learning Professional's Group, E-Learning Global Network, and Instructional Designers) ask questions, listen and read the articles or videos; and participate in the discussion.  As I reflected, I realized I needed to expand my participation to other educational related groups.

The Positive Influencer I hope to become an influencer in government positions as a contractor or government employee. As I obtain instructional design positions, I hope to introduce different ideas, utilize available resources, and encourage student interaction outside the classroom environment.

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References

Dede, C. (2005). Planning for neomillennial learning styles. Educause Quarterly, 28(1), 7–12.

Saad, L., Busteed, B., & Ogisi, M. (2013). In U.S., online education rated best for value and options. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/165425/online-education-rated-best-value-options.aspx

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Web Page

LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/ 

Converting Face to Face to Blended Learning

Greetings,

I just spend valuable time developing a user guide for those thinking about converting their instructor-led training to a blended learning format.   

The development of the guide took into consideration an organization's training office directive to convert all of the current training modules into a blended learning format. Additionally, management desire to increased student and instructor interact, to store and provide access to training material 24/7. 

As a Distance Learning, this guide focuses on definition of blended learning, strategies for converting material, suggested learning management systems, what best transfers to an online venue, file sharing and collaboration web tools, and instructor's role. 

Click the link below to view my rendition of the user guide.

Converting Your Face to Face to Blended Learning


I appreciate comments, questions, and suggestions. 

Marnie

The Impact of Open Source

I began my search on Open Culture, I found Bass Lesson offered by Berklee Music (I am a bass play with a worship team. The excerpt of Berkleemusic’s 12 week course Base Performance 101 “Free Bass Lesson” assumes you read music and play a bass.  Instruction is limited text and short videos (less than 10 minutes total). The lack information, minimum videos, and little practice resulted in loose of focus. In addition, the commercials that took up two of the eight pages did not help. OK, strike that one off my list.

Then I went to DaveConservatoire (Music Theory Lessons) - David Rees, Royal College of Music, London, and began viewing “Music: A Beginner’sGuide”; wow, what a difference. Animated videos using a whiteboard (has a black background and colored pens), instructor writes on the board as he talks, making one feel they are in the classroom. Instructor’s compassion for the topic of music is evident as he speaks, and my worship leader will be overjoyed if I continue with the entire program.

General Review

1^st Dave Conservatoire began in 2011 after viewing non-profit sites like Khan Academy  and to because of a strong desire to reach more people with music.

2^nd There is no fancy Learning or course Management System to navigate

3^rd Your choice to establish a login or not; although, doing so enables you to track your progress

4^th Once you start, the Next Lesson navigational buttons help you progress through the entire course.

5^th You can describe Dave Conservatoire as a just-in-time learning, where the information presented is done so in modules available all the time, so the learner can easily go directly to an individual module of their choice (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012). Since I sing and play the bass, I may need a refresher in knowing the notes on a tablature, whether the treble clef or bass clef.  

Critique         

Dave Rees presents information with engaging videos, using a whiteboard or smart board, which students view and listen. Based on the flow of the content in each video, Dave uses a lesson plan, probably sprung from the courses he teaches at Royal College of Music in London, United Kingdom.  Dave chunked his videos into small, less than 10-minute, bite size morsels allowing the online student to digest the information or do a quick review.  As I indicated earlier, Dave’s videos are presented in a manner that I feel keeps the learner’s attention, because he writes on the whiteboard as he speaks and his England accent is very easy to understand. Watching someone writing as they speak is better than animated PowerPoint slides any day.

Dave utilizes interactive quizzes allowing the student to practice and obtain feedback in the form of a shaking “check answer” button for wrong answer or a smile 8-) face and “next question” for correct answers. Honestly, I thought the shaking “check answer” button meant something was wrong with the website, or my web browser. Dave facilitates student participation, but only to a point, as these courses were tailored for individual use, as a supplement, and not as a group, thus limiting the active learning to the quizzes.  Simonson,Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2012) indicate a good online training has active learning with virtual small group discussions or experience with the material via handouts, in addition to quizzes.

Dave organized the two courses two ways. First on the main page he has “Music” A Beginner’s Guide” and “Reading Music” listed with the various modules underneath for easy reference, but lacks the organization of how each module falls or sequence—no numbering or tree. Herring and Smaldino (2001) tells us to organize the information so that it helps the student determine the flow of the course and not look like a puzzle (Simonson, Smaldino,Albright, & Zvacek, 2012). Dave does have the “getting stated” button, but the remaining modules are displayed like a matching puzzle, uncertain on what would come next without going into each one. Secondly, once in each course, no matter which button you selected, you will see the progression Dave intended for the course to flow on the left side of the page. So, if I select Modes (http://www.daveconservatoire.org/topic/modes) for the “Music: Beginner’s Guide”, I would realize I needed to start with pitch instead, thus not becoming lost.

How could I make it better?

• What immediately catches, or does not catch my eye is the lack of handouts or links to stuff I might to print and available free on the Internet that I could use to practice on or write notes.
• Provide explanation to how the courses should run and how the quizzes function—right and wrong answer feedback
• Provide a course map, whether by numbering the modules, displaying the modules in order on the main page and not once inside the course
• Consider placing the two courses in a free online learning management system (LMS) like Haiku Class, which is intuitive for the instructor and student. Roberts, Newman, and Schwartzstein(2012) offered twelve tips for facilitating millennial students; tip number seven reminds us as instructional designers to “recognize that millennials value (and expect) aesthetically appealing education presentation.” If it looks unappealing with first impressions, the perspective student may not come back for a second consideration.  

As one who needs to beef up her knowledge of reading music, I will consider returning to these courses. Dave does an excellent job of presenting the information in an effective manner; using whiteboard to communicate is if I were sitting in the classroom. 

                                                               

                                                                             

References 

Rees, D. (2013). Dave conservatoire. Retrieved http://www.daveconservatoire.org/.

Northern Illinois University, Faculty Development and Instruction (n.d.). Millennials: Our newest generation in higher education. Retrieved from http://www.niu.edu/facdev/resources/guide/students/millennials_our_newest_generation_in_higher_education.pdf

Roberts, D. H., Newman, L. R., & Schwartzstein, R. M. (2012). Twelve tips for facilitating Millennials' learning. Medical Teacher, 34, 4, 274-8.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson. 

Identifying E-learning Tools

Scenario:

A new automated staff information system was recently purchased by a major corporation and needs to be implemented in six regional offices. Unfortunately, the staff is located throughout all the different offices and cannot meet at the same time or in the same location. As an instructional designer for the corporation, you have been charged with implementing a training workshop for these offices. As part of the training, you were advised how imperative it is that the staff members share information, in the form of screen captures and documents, and participate in ongoing collaboration.

Tools:

In addition to providing recording of the training workshop, I explored various Web 2.0 e-learning tools, I selected two tools that I feel can be effective in presenting the information, enable collaboration with all participants long after the training, and cost nothing.

q I wanted a software/web-ware that enabled me to capture screen shots and facilitated easy sharing. Snagit came to mind, its one-time cost of $49.95 slowed me down, and then I remembered I had Jing loaded on my computer.

Jing is free and enables the user to take a snapshot of the entire window or a specific area—real helpful when trying to have a discussion about a particular section of the program. Jing also allows users to capture five-minute videos; once again this is helpful in asking for clarification and/or receiving an explanation. 

Jing provides excellent tutorials to help the user get the most out of the program.  Screencast.com, which facilitates sharing of images or videos by providing a shareable URL, supplements Jing and is simple to use. What is nice about Jing is that the user—the one creating the videos or taking screenshots, can keep their files online or choose to download, thus not losing the videos if the company shut down for any reason.

q Next I am considering using Google Drive to story and update documents as needed and be readily accessible to all participants. Google Drive allows users to store any kind of file, create documents, spreadsheets, presentations and drawings, while keeping them on the web in a secure environment. The snapshots obtained via Jing can be uploaded here for easy access. Each file can be given access rights based on the user—make comments, or just view, resulting in everyone collaborating on the same file.

Personally, Google Drive helps me access files fro anywhere I can reach the Internet, even from my Smart Phone—yes there is an app for that. Files do not get lost, or accidently deleted from my email. In a previous class, our team utilized Google Drive to share our files and provide input.

Why they work:

So, why did I select Jing and Google Drive? Lets consider what a video provides, even five minutes worth. Video provides audio and pictures, allowing the recipient to see the non-verbal and hear the verbal messages that emphasize specific item(s). Video illustrates how something is to be done—a great benefit when your students are miles away, and short video clips help with the downloading time. Seeing and/or hearing your instructor personalizes the training, and taking the extra effort brings a more direct experience (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012).  

Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2012) highlights student-centered learning as it supports active learning, collaboration, as well as, “mastery of the course material and student control over the learning process” (p. 123). Visualization is another consideration instructional designers need to consider, Heinich (2004) emphasized that “good visual media” enhances the learning experience for the student, and using Jing minimizes copyright infringements (cited in Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p. 159).

Real-World Usage:

In 2013, Matt Ives share at the TeachMeetNZ, virtual meeting with educators in New Zealand, his experience with Google Docs and how he pushed his students to utilized Google Docs to collaborate between students, and how he used comments to provide feedback as the students work on their assignments.

In 2011, an “effective practice” was done at Webster University to determine the impact of using “Jing” to provide feedback to students (Smith, 2013). Students and faculty expressed satisfaction as it provided an alternative for giving feedback to the student, and in turn the student approved as it brought a connection to the instructor.  

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References

Google docs – Share and share alike [Video podcast] (2013). [with Matt Ives] Retrieved from http://youtu.be/yTT6FXCQ3L4.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Smith, M (2013). Five minute feedback: Teaching with jing. The Sloan Consortium.  Retrieved from http://sloanconsortium.org/effective_practices/five-minute-feedback-teaching-jing.